


gift exchange

by nolongervoid



Series: 12 Days of Ramenzo [3]
Category: BoBoiBoy (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Secret Santa, mee n the geng finally here, ocs credit to dude and bun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:08:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28095165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nolongervoid/pseuds/nolongervoid
Summary: Ramen has a crush on the hot guy in his homeroom class. Luckily, he's got the squad to back him up.
Relationships: Kaizo/Ramenman (BoBoiBoy), Ramenman & Original Characters
Series: 12 Days of Ramenzo [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053443
Kudos: 3





	gift exchange

Ramen only signed up for homeroom computer science because Samyang was taking the course and Ramen didn’t want to be alone in all his classes. In retrospect, probably not the best reason; Eggi letting him copy off his work was the only thing keeping him above a failing grade.

The hot guy in his class was another excuse to stay, though.

Ramen spent long boring lectures staring above his monitor at the back of Kaizo’s spiky-haired head- at this point he practically had its pattern memorized. Either Kaizo was extremely precise in his hair gel application routine, or the ridiculous hairstyle was actually genetic. Ramen, having experience with the painstaking process of gelling his hair into place every morning for almost half a year, was inclined to believe the latter.

This morning, however, he enters the empty classroom to the teacher tiptoeing on a stool, reaching up to pin a garland above the whiteboard.

“Need a hand?” he offers, but she’s already stepping down and brushing off her hands.

“Thank you, but I’ll be fine,” she politely refuses and makes her way over to her desk, producing a card from a drawer within it.

She holds it out to him. “Do you need a pen?”

Ramen sets down his backpack on a nearby chair and gestures to Samyang and Eggi to come over, and the teacher gives them cards too.

“Uh, what is this for?” Samyang scratches the back of his head while Ramen searches for pens.

“The homeroom Secret Santa exchange,” she grins, and Eggi pauses.

“Secret...santa?” He quirks an eyebrow.

The teacher gapes in disbelief. “Don’t tell me you’ve never participated in a Secret Santa before!”

Eggi shakes his head, nonplussed, and Samyang pats his shoulder gently.

“A Secret Santa is like, uh…” he starts to explain.

“Basically you get a gift for someone, but the catch is, they don’t know it’s you,” Ramen says helpfully.

“Ooh, so anonymous gift-giving,” Eggi nods in understanding.

“Well, it’s only a secret till they give you the gift on Christmas,” the teacher clarifies, and Ramen finally locates his pencil case, haphazardly unzipping it, and two pens and a pencil tumble out.

“Careful,” she warns, as he nearly drops the pencil case on a keyboard.

“Sorry,” he grins sheepishly and quickly tosses it in his bag. “So we just write our names and fold it?”

She raises an eyebrow as he illustrates his point by folding the index card...very roughly in half. Samyang, meanwhile, is meticulously matching up the corners so the edges line up exactly, like the pretentious perfectionist he is. Ramen loves his friend, but sometimes he wonders how Sam and Eggi even get along with him and Mamee. Clumsy klutzes and precise perfectionists - either they balance each other out really well or it’s sheer coincidence.

Eggi carefully writes his name in neat cursive, and folds the card exactly in half like it’s been pre-folded for him. Ramen can only gape in shock.

“This sounds like fun!” Eggi smiles as he puts the folded card into the basket the teacher extends towards them.

More students file in, and she guides them through the same process, offering pens for those who came less prepared. Some of their card-folding techniques are just as careless as Ramen’s, and he feels less self-conscious about his own. Their teacher finally collects the last one, scanning the room for any absent students - miraculously, there are none on this fine First of December - and shakes the basket to mix up the cards.

Ramen watches as Kaizo, among the last to enter the room, takes his seat after adding his own card to the basket. Ramen drops his eyes to his monitor and stares very deeply into his computer screensaver, waiting on the teacher’s signal to unlock the system. Out of the corner of his eye, his classmate does not turn his head towards him.

Ramen peeks over his monitor again to the same sight he has been graced with for most of the past semester - <insert number of spikes in Kaizo’s hair> perfect, weeb-style spikes.

He must have gotten distracted because the next thing he knows, Sam is poking his shoulder and nudging the basket towards him. He blinks, glancing from the collection of folded cards to the unfolded one pinched between Samyang’s fingers, and realization dawns on him in an instant. He quickly grabs a card off the top, shaking off the other card that attaches to it, then dropping both when it refuses to release itself. He picks another card, this one loose from its companions, and hastily slides the basket to his left.

Eggi leans past Samyang to his right, and Ramen quickly unfolds the card, though the way this one is folded specifically makes it a bit slower to open.

He stares, blinking once, twice, then shakes his head in disbelief.

_ Kaizo. _

The surprise must show on his face because Eggi’s eyes light up and Samyang gives him a Look, and Ramen immediately slaps on his best poker face. He stares back down at the card, the scrawly hand-writing that he’s got memorized by now, and struggles to comprehend that he could have possibly drawn the card of the boy sitting right in front of him at this very moment, albeit with his head ducked down in introversion and disinterest.

“Way to keep it secret,” Samyang whispers sarcastically.

“You did this?” Ramen asks incredulously.

Samyang’s eyes narrow and he jerks his head towards Eggi, who muffles a giggle.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” Eggi apologizes. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Well, sure, Ramen would kill for an excuse to interact with Kaizo again, even though he’s moderately certain that the other hates his guts, and a randomized gift exchange would be the perfect way to throw off suspicion, but…

“What?” Eggi asks, face falling.

Ramen stares back at the card in his hand as if the single word on it has changed since his last glance. Nope, it’s still definitely Kaizo.

“I guess it’s time to look for the perfect gift,” Ramen forces a grin, and Eggi smiles in relief.

And it had better be the perfect gift, because it’s the last shot he’s got at winning Kaizo over.

-

The glory of being assigned partner projects is that their teacher mercifully allowed Ramen, the exceptional programming failure, to work in a group of three with Samyang and Eggi. Samyang’s presence means that Ramen has to actually pretend he’s learned something in the past three months, but Eggi has gotten better at helping him hide that, making smooth excuses and careful prompts to, ahem,  _ egg  _ Ramen on.

To Ramen’s mild disappointment, Kaizo also has a project partner. To absolutely no one’s surprise, it is not Ramen. It’s some other guy who Ramen hasn’t bothered to learn the name of, though he can’t say he’s entirely comfortable with the way he looks at Kaizo.

And, to his further distaste, Kaizo doesn’t seem to have an aversion to the guy. It’s clearly forced, as anyone else in the room can tell, but at least he has the decency of addressing him politely and  _ smiling _ . Kaizo has never once smiled at Ramen, not even in sarcasm.

On this afternoon lunch hour, their site is the computer lab. Ideally not the best dining location, given the close proximity of highly expensive technological equipment, but December means winter break is coming up, which means deadlines, which means spending their lunch hours hurrying to finish projects and assignments before they’re due.

So, albeit not a mutually welcome prospect, he and Kaizo are technically lunch buddies today.

There’s also no hard-and-fast rule against inviting friends here, so Mamee joins them for “moral support” purposes. And immediately calls out Ramen’s staring habits.

“Ooh, what  _ beauty  _ are we beholding today?” Mamee’s voice is not as quiet as Ramen would like it to be.

“ _ Only Ramen’s Secret Santa giftee _ .” At least Eggi has the respect to whisper in an undertone, and Mamee’s eyebrows jump.

“What coincidence,” he prompts, tone skeptical, and Samyang facepalms.

“It was me,” Eggi says proudly, oblivious, then drops his voice. “I rigged the draw.”

“ _ Ohoho _ !” Mamee’s eyes glitter, “What have  _ you _ been learning in the computer magic class?”

He doesn’t bother to so much as watch his volume and Kaizo whips around at them and glares.

Mamee throws his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, sorry, didn’t mean to disturb your work!”

Kaizo rolls his eyes and turns back to his partner, the corners of his lips quirking up in a small smile at whatever the other guy says in response to the incident.

Ramen suppresses a small surge of rage. He shoves his hand under the table and clenches a fist.

Samyang is still staring at Kaizo, raising an eyebrow as he turns to Ramen. “Are you sure?”

Ramen blinks. “Sure about?”

Samyang sighs and Mamee nods as if in agreement. “Bro, I know he’s hot, but-”

Ramen’s cheeks heat up and he ducks his head even though Kaizo isn’t looking at him. “ _ Say it a little louder, will ya? _ ”

Mamee looks like he’s almost considering the possibility for a moment, and Ramen briefly panics, but he dismisses it. “Seriously, though, what part of that prickish personality do you find attractive?”

Ramen shrugs, unwrapping his sandwich and taking a bite.

Samyang narrows his eyes. “If it’s only that he’s hot, man, that’s kinda shallow…”

Ramen chokes on his sandwich, struggling to swallow it smoothly, and Mamee slaps his back to help him along.

“Hey, if it was just about looks, then Sam is plenty attractive,” Mamee points out, which doesn’t at all help Ramen clear his windpipe. “Or me, heck,” he adds as an afterthought.

“Aw, thanks bro,” Samyang grins.

Ramen coughs, finally able to breathe again, and Mamee tosses his hair behind his shoulder.

“Whaddyou say, Noodles?” he asks, gesturing to himself. “Would you hit this?”

Ramen tilts his head as if legitimately considering it for a moment. 

“ _ Maybe so _ ,” he decides, teasing, and they all crack up, though Eggi hesitates for a moment in confusion before joining their laughter.

“Do you mind?” Kaizo’s voice is sharp with annoyance.

Ramen goes silent. “Sorry…”

“Thank you,” Kaizo says, not sounding at all grateful, and goes back to discussing with his partner until the bell rings, signalling the end of lunch hour.

-

Ramen almost runs into Kaizo after school before practice, only stopping a moment in surprise at seeing him, watching through meshed windows as his classmate ducks behind a set of double doors and dashes up the staircase.

Ramen shakes his head and continues towards the gymnasium.

After practice, though, he finds himself retracing his steps and heading back towards the hallway he last saw Kaizo in, and pausing before pushing open the door and taking the stairs two at a time.

He ends up in the art wing, a completely unfamiliar hallway, and for a moment he hesitates. He’s never been in this part of the school before - he doesn’t know if he’s even allowed to be, but also, why wouldn’t he? The hallway is empty - mostly everyone without extra-curriculars left at least an hour ago, but there’s sound coming out of one of the rooms, and Ramen cautiously approaches it.

The door is open, and Ramen freezes just out of its view, so he can’t see who’s inside, nor can they see him. He can hear them, though, and he pauses for a while, listening as they sing something he recognizes as familiar but can’t identify exactly. They have a good voice, he thinks, and then realizes with a start that he’s heard it before.

But, no, it can’t be…

_ Kaizo? _

The singing stops abruptly, giving Ramen a heart attack, and he freezes in place, torn between making a run for it or staying where he is. He waits with bated breath as light footsteps cross the tiles of the room, and his feet inch away as the sounds grow nearer? Farther? He can’t tell, but now he’s at the door to the stairwell and he doesn’t think as he pushes it open and sprints down the stairs, slamming the doors open and running outside, not slowing down till he’s ten meters from the bus stop.

He keels, catching his breath, then straightens, and to his relief, a bus pulls up just then, admitting him entry, and taking him as far away from the school - and Kaizo’s wrath - as possible.

-

Ramen flops onto his bed as soon as he gets home, exhausted and reeling from today’s events. As if the coach didn’t wear him out already. Football season doesn’t start until spring, but the coach insists on having them whipped into shape long before then, and Ramen is aching by the time he finally stumbles into his bedroom.

He stares at the ceiling, mind swirling with thoughts. Kaizo’s name on the card, Kaizo’s project partner, Kaizo singing…

Ramen reminds himself that not all his thoughts revolve around Kaizo. For example, he is also starting to worry about Eggi informing him he’d be going on an early vacation the first two weeks of December, leaving Ramen alone to convince Samyang that he wasn’t a total phony and actually did pay attention to things other than Kaizo’s head in homeroom.

...Which comes back to Kaizo, eh?

Ramen sighs and shakes his head to clear his thoughts, reaching for his phone and clicking it on. He has notifications, and one tap brings him to the Mee Gang’s group chat.

**samuwung:** does anyone know patrik beard?

**samuwung:** *patrick

**FurryMonstah:** whomt   
**send_noods:** uh is he in compsci?

**samuwung:** yeah i shoulde let u know i got him for ss

**Eggi:** I can’t say I know him particularly well

**send_noods:** idk man u know i only talk tou uys

**send_noods:** lol what is spelling

**samuwung:** im sure youre having a fun time brainstorming

**FurryMonstah:** ooh yeah hows that goin for ya

**send_noods:** uhhh idk

**send_noods:** i only just got home so   
**FurryMonstah:** im surprised u havent been thinking about it all day

**FurryMonstah:** imagining the look on his face when he opens ur present…

**FurryMonstah:** then pulling u in for a kiss~

**samuwung:** mamee pls

**send_noods:** i cant with you guys-

**send_noods:** so long as he doeesnt throw it back in my fce ill b forever blessed

**FurryMonstah:** raise 👏 your 👏 standards 👏

**FurryMonstah:** u deserve better than weeb spikyhead

**samuwung:** says the weeb…

**FurryMonstah:** shaddup were all weebs here

**Eggi:** Does it count if I’m literally japanese?

**samuwung:** eggi no youre not a weeb-

**FurryMonstah:** were way better weebs than kaizo anyway

**FurryMonstah:** i bet kaizo nevr naruto ran through the high school hallways

**samuwung:** …

**send_noods:** you did wHAT

**FurryMonstah:** fuck dont tell me i never told u guys about freshman year anime club

**Eggi:** language…

**samuwung:** >:C

**samuwung:** eggi shouldnt u be packing

**Eggi:** Almost done. ^w^

**samuwung:** niceee

**send_noods:** were gonna miss u bro :c

**FurryMonstah:** yeah defo :/

**samuwung:** have fun though!!

**Eggi:** Thanks, guys. I will.

**FurryMonstah:** and bring dope presents

**samuwung:** >:c

**send_noods:** uhh not too expensive :p

**Eggi:** I’ll keep an eye out.

**send_noods:** ill leave u to ur packing then

**samuwung:** hm maybe ill ask someone else abt patrick

**FurryMonstah:** hey sam   
**FurryMonstah:** ask kaizo

**FurryMonstah:** ;)

**send_noods:** …

**FurryMonstah:** hes in compsci isnt he?

**samuwung:** what part of ‘secret’ santa do u not get-

**FurryMonstah:** but u couldve gotten a hint abt what ramen shld get kazoo

**samuwung:** LMAO

**FurryMonstah:** *kaizo

**FurryMonstah:** sorry autocorrect

**samuwung:** SGJSBDFKSBKGJBAKJ

**send_noods:** oh my god…

**FurryMonstah:** GET HIM A KAZOO   
**samuwung:** NO

**send_noods:** NO

**Eggi:** No…?

**samuwung:** EGGI GO PACK

**FurryMonstah:** man u cant deny itd be fucking hilarious tho

**samuwung:** LANGUAGE OMG

**FurryMonstah:** :C

**samuwung:** mamee dont u have homework…

**FurryMonstah:** ...maybe so

**send_noods:** sgkjbsdjgbsjbaj

**samuwung:** go do ur work

**FurryMonstah:** >:C

**send_noods:** ur such a gr8 role model omg

**FurryMonstah:** ikr 😎

**samuwung:** thats it im ghosting u till u do ur work

**FurryMonstah:** wha okay mom

**samuwung:** ill go ask someone else in our class ig

**FurryMonstah:** KAIZO

**send_noods:** not kaizo pls-

**send_noods:** dammit-

**samuwung:** we’ll see…

**FurryMonstah:** woah cryptic   
**FurryMonstah:** …   
**FurryMonstah:** ur really gonna ghost me eh

**FurryMonstah:** ughhhhh

**FurryMonstah:** f i n e

**FurryMonstah:** been betrayed by my own bretheren

**FurryMonstah:** …

**FurryMonstah:** k whatever

-

Ramen is gazing at Kaizo’s hair again, dozing off - his sleep schedule was not made for 8am class - while the teacher busies herself pinning garlands across the walls. Samyang clears his throat beside him and Ramen blinks blearily to his right, jerking awake with a start when he realizes the empty seat beside him.

Eggi isn’t coming to class today.

Ramen almost smacks himself for forgetting, and straightens, fumbling for the button on his monitor to avoid premature underestimations of his intelligence.

Samyang raises an eyebrow and Ramen glances up at the teacher, whose back is turned.

“What?” Ramen asks innocently. “Shouldn’t we be maximizing our class time?”

Samyang watches him with narrow eyes and turns on his own monitor. He nods, still eyeing him suspiciously. 

Ramen swallows. “So, uh, we were working on…”

He clicks through his folders, jogging his memory, and pauses at an icon thumbnail that looks familiar. Taking a breath, he double clicks.

Samyang’s eyes widen, impressed. “So you are awake.”

Ramen sighs in relief and thanks his luck. To his surprise, when he lifts his eyes from the monitor, Kaizo is watching him curiously. The moment he catches Ramen looking at him, though, his expression shifts, and he sets his jaw and turns back around.

The blond blinks for just a moment before Samyang is clearing his throat again, calling his attention back to the task at hand.

Ramen prays his lucky streak lasts through the rest of December.

-

He ends up back in the art wing after the next session of football practice. It’s risky, he knows, and truthfully, he wasn’t even intended to come back here, but his feet seemed to take initiative of their own and now he’s staring through the hallway plastered with original posters and designs, glowing display cases full of high school masterpieces.

The music room is silent this time, the door open only a crack, and Ramen peeks inside only to be disappointed when he finds it empty.

He pauses at the display case, gently touching his fingers to the glass and admiring the artistic talent of some of his fellow schoolmates, then reluctantly turns and heads back outside.

-

Ramen has lost count of how many times he’s had to drag his feet away from the no-longer-foregin part of the school, because his head is always muddled after tough training and he keeps finding himself here.

This time, though, he’s surprised to hear Kaizo’s voice, again.

He strains his ears, listening carefully, and realizes with a jolt that it’s the Christmas classics he grew up with. Only the sound completely different, less silly, more...Ramen can’t place the word for it, except that this is something he would unironically listen to on repeat for hours.

Except, before a single hour can pass, or even half - heck, barely a minute - Kaizo stops and mutters something to someone else in the room that he can’t make out, then there’s footsteps again, and Ramen is out of there.

-

“Do you have an interest in the Arts?”

A woman steps out of the classroom at the end of the hallway and folds her hands in front of her as she approaches him, heels clicking on the floor. Ramen freezes in front of the display case and swallows nervously.

“Uh…”

She shrugs in a pretentious sort of way that matches her demure aura. “Only that I see you loitering around here rather frequently after school these days. Is there something you need?”

“Uh, no, ma’am,” he shakes his head, vowing to himself never to come back him.

She narrows her eyes. “Well there’s no need to look so alarmed, boy, it is a sign of culture to appreciate art.”

Ramen, a jock, forcibly restrains himself from bursting out laughing at the irony. With her sharp eye fixated on him, it isn’t at all difficult.

She shrugs again. “You’re always welcome to venture into this hallway,” she informs him, then pauses. “So long as your intentions are refined, and not to cause...mischief.”

Ramen shakes his head, eyes wide. “Understood, ma’am.”

“Now, then, you’d be returning from sports practice, wouldn’t you?”

Ramen nods.

“Well, I suggest you move along, then.”

Ramen doesn’t need to be told twice. He un-sticks his feet from the floor and, not for the first time, sprints as far away from the arts wing as possible.

-

samuwung: when does ur practice end again?

send_noods: 5 why

samuwung: then y u get home at 6

Ramen stops, staring at the screen.

**send_noods:** bus takes forever in the snow lol

**samuwung:** i take the bus in peak traffic

**samuwung:** it takes like 45min max

**send_noods:** ...yea?

**samuwung:** what do u do after school dude

**send_noods:** ...go home?

**samuwung:** no ya dont

**samuwung:** im not mamee but i still know u well enough

**samuwung:** even after dragging ur tired achy body after practice ur def doing sth else before u leave the school

**samuwung:** so whats up

**send_noods:** fineeee ill tell u but dont tell mamee ok

**samuwung:** …

**samuwung:** i mean i dont want it to get me in trouble-

**send_noods:** i mean...nah?

**samuwung:** hhhh ok nvm forget i asked

**samuwung:** but i end up having to wait an extra half hor every night waitin for u

**send_noods:** sorryyyyy

**send_noods:** im here now arent i

**samuwung:** i am Not asking her for an extension

**send_noods:** 🥺

**samuwung:** >:C

**send_noods:** fineee

**samuwung:** btw

**send_noods:** eh?

**samuwung:** i asked him

**samuwung:** kaizo

**send_noods:** ?

**send_noods:** …

**samuwung:** sjhgbshjshjgsj patrick is his parner

**samuwung:** he can keep a secret

**send_noods:** u talked to kazoo…

**send_noods:** *kazo gdi

**send_noods:** **KAIZO   
**samuwung:** ye?

**send_noods:** HOW

**samuwung:** well ya see

**samuwung:** theres this thing called INSTAGRAM

**send_noods:** HOW DID U GET HIM TO ALK T U

**samuwung:** idk tbh?

**samuwung:** i just asked and he didnt seem to mind

**send_noods:** …

**samuwung:** i think he mostly dislikes mmee tbh

**send_noods:** . . .

**send_noods:** why-

**samuwung:** IDK im just sayin

**samuwung:** also he has a brother did u know

**send_noods:** wh

**samuwung:** theyre orphans

**send_noods:** …

**send_noods:** hOW MUCH DID U TALK??

**samuwung:** eggi told me-

**send_noods:** how did eGGI-

**samuwung:** anyway i think thats why hes Like That

**send_noods:** uh

**samuwung:** tough luck bro

**send_noods:** ya think i shouldve taken mamees advice?

**samuwung:** uh?

**send_noods:** gone for you instead-

**samuwung:** …

**samuwung:** pls no-

**send_noods:** jkjk

**samuwung:** anyway enough abt kaizo

**samuwung:** cOMPSCI HOURS

**send_noods:** :/

**samuwung:** sjgbsjdgbdsj u think anough abt kazoo as is

**samuwung:** *kazoo dammit

**samuwung:** …

**samuwung:** yknow what nevermind

-

Eggi once said if Ramen paid as much attention to the lesson as he did to Kaizo, he’d be the best student in the class.

Mamee responded by saying Ramen was too gay to have his priorities straight.

Ramen finds himself half-wishing he were heterosexual enough to excel in his studies because there’s a week and a half left before the Final Due Date of this damned project and Samyang refuses to ask for an extension.

He almost goes an entire class without looking at Kaizo once because he’s so absorbed in figuring out how to decipher Samyang’s programming, let alone continue it.  _ Almost. _

-

He swears he didn’t mean to be here this time. It was the coach reluctantly informing them that the gym had to be decorated for the Winter Gala Extravaganza, and, as the ones who would be using it otherwise, the football team had to assist in the preparations.

So Ramen ended up searching for room 201 which turned out to be...in the arts hallway.

And there was singing again. And a pause. And footsteps. Except Ramen couldn’t leave this time because he was carrying a stack of loaded boxes (the teacher handing them to him remarked at his strength, to which the coach nodded proudly, his strict training successful) while his teammate asked the visual arts teacher for the paintings to be hung around the stage.

Ramen peeks into the music room, then shifts back, when Kaizo is standing right there. This time, he’s close enough to hear their conversation.

“...brother’s winter concert,” Kaizo is saying, and Ramen sharpens his hearing, standing as still as one can while carrying half his weight.

“You could find yourself a place here, too,” the woman beside him - presumably the music teacher - is suggesting. “It wouldn’t be too late to sign up on short notice.”

Kaizo hesitates. “Maybe next year…”

Ramen can’t hear the rest as they both lower their voices, Kaizo reducing to mumbling, but his teammate is poking him, then, anyway, beckoning to follow him back to the gym.

-

Eggi returns to school to crippling tackle hugs that almost knock his petit form over and toppling to the floor.

Mamee and Ramen hold him close, though, Samyang patting him in a gentler embrace.

“We missed you!”

“I learned Python!” Ramen tells him, and Eggi’s eyes widen.

“Really?!” he asked Samyang, who nods proudly.

“We still need your help, though,” Ramen admits, then corrects himself. “I mean, that’s not the only reason we’re glad you’re back!”

Eggi laughs and refuses to reveal the gifts he brought them, insisting that they wait till Christmas Day itself to find out, because Mamee invited them over that day, anyway.

“How is the gift-searching going?” Eggi asks, and Ramen pauses.

“I’ll keep you updated,” he replies sheepishly, then pauses. “Actually, I think I might have an idea…”

“I’ve already got mine,” Samyang shrugs. “Did you buy something over there?”

Eggi nods, but again insists on keeping it a surprise. Ramen should have figured how hard it was to pry answers out of the guy who hid the blond’s incompetence from  _ Samyang. _

-

Before any of them realize it, it’s the last day of school.

Ramen walks into the classroom and stops in his tracks when he sees the result of the teacher’s progressive decorating over the past three weeks.

The lights are off - instead, the room is illuminated by fairy lights strung up on the walls or around the several tiny Christmas trees around the room. Paper snowflakes hang from the ceiling, and silver-and-gold tinsel glitters in the dim glow.

He must have frozen in the doorway because someone bumps into him on their way trying to get in, and he shifts aside without thinking before realizing it’s Kaizo.

“ _ MISTLETOE! _ ” Ramen didn’t even realize his friends were behind him till he hears Mamee whoop, and both his and Kaizo’s eyes slide up to the top of the doorframe, where, sure enough, a sprig of mistletoe hangs teasingly.

Kaizo, for a moment, looks as though he’s about to jump up and snatch it off. Ramen is watching his eyes, though, and swallows nervously.  _ Seriously, in a high school? _

But Mamee is cheering and Samyang has the audacity to cross his arms expectantly while Eggi just beams, so Ramen, in a newfound surge of boldness, ducks down and pecks Kaizo very lightly on the lips.

The other doesn’t jerk away immediately in disgust, though he may have simply frozen on the spot.

“Uh,” Ramen’s mind is blank. “I’m your Secret Santa.”

He doesn’t know why he revealed it now when the actual gifting rites aren’t until later, but Kaizo pulls back and regards him coolly.

“I hope that wasn’t supposed to be my gift?”

Ramen flushes and thanks the teacher for having the lights off. He shakes his head vigorously and Kaizo turns to look on ahead, but Ramen could swear there’s a faint smile on his lips.

“Are you going to go in, then?” Kaizo gestures forward, and Ramen un-sticks his feet from the floor to follow him inside.

Mamee guides Samyang in, clapping his shoulders heavily, and kissing him full on the mouth in the middle of the doorway.

“No homo, though,” he clarifies, pulling away, and Samyang laughs.

“No homo,” he agrees. “Just bros being bros.”

Eggi walks in by himself, though he doesn’t appear to mind in the slightest. It’s when he leaves the doorway, empty, though, that they see someone else standing outside, hanging back reluctantly, though his eyes are wide with surprise.

Kaizo seems to sense something, because he turns back and stops dead in his tracks.

“Kaizo…” Kaizo’s project partner says dumbly, and Ramen realizes he probably just witnessed the object of his simping being kissed by someone else, namely, himself.

Ramen frowns in confusion as Kaizo’s expression turns to one of discomfort, almost distress.

“Patrick…” Kaizo’s smile is painfully forced and the other - who Ramen now identifies as ‘Patrick’ - looks absolutely  _ betrayed _ .

Kaizo’s smile drops as Patrick walks right past him without saying anything. Ramen almost reaches out to say something, but holds back.

The atmosphere in the room is unbearably awkward, but Mamee strikes up a conversation and Kaizo gratefully engages, likely desperate to distract himself.

“At least we all submitted our projects?” Samyang mutters in Ramen’s ear.

“Unless they got an extension,” Eggi notes quietly. “I don’t envy them…”

“I fucked up,” Ramen whispers, and Kaizo narrows his eyes.

“That you did,” the other confirms, and Ramen deflates, silently cursing Mamee.

Mamee seems to sense this. “C’mon guys, it’s mistletoe!”

Kaizo sighs deeply, disappointedly, heavy-heartedly.

The teacher finally walks in, and stops at their table.

“You,” she addresses Mamee. “Are you in my class?”

“I have a spare, ma’am,” he excuses himself, and she shrugs.

“Well, the more the merrier. I’m sorry to inform you may not be receiving a gift, though,” she shrugs apologetically, and he waves it off.

“Hanging with my homies in homeroom is the best present there is,” he declares confidently, throwing an arm around the gang. 

Kaizo scoots his chair away to escape the group hug.

The teacher clasps her hands together. “Well, you’re all here now- I see no reason why I should hold you back from receiving your gifts any longer.”

There’s some joking cheers and she fumbles for a bit, deciding on an effective course of action, and asks for volunteers. Ramen glances at Samyang, who is gazing at Patrick Beard with an extremely reluctant expression.

Mamee’s hand shoots up into the air and the teacher gapes at him.

“My presence,” he announces, “is the best gift y’all are gonna  _ get. _ ”

He gets some boos but also some cheers, and the girl who usually sits to Ramen’s left ducks her head shyly. It manages to convince some of their classmates to step up, though, and one of the guys Ramen unfortunately still cannot put a name to approaches him, sliding along a giant box.

Ramen’s eyes widen, wondering what could possibly be the contents of this box that is half his own size, and his Secret Santa extends a hand, inviting him to open it. So the blond grabs a pair of scissors and stabs into the tape. He tears along it and opens the flaps to reveal…

Another, smaller box.

And within that is another box. And another, and another, and so on, and the tension in the classroom both thickens and is eased as they start to laugh, the boxes shrinking in size the more he opens.

He finally pulls out a small, solid-feeling box, and he shakes it, hopeful that this is the last. Sure enough, as he peels the wrapping off this one, a brand label appears.

Ramen rips off the rest of the paper to reveal a packaged container of hair gel. He holds it up to display it to the rest of the class, and Mamee cackles in recognition.

“Hair gel!” he exclaims. “Guess we’re not the only ones who remember you before Noodles,” he nudges Ramen, who is still taken considerably off-guard.

“Thanks,” he tells the gifter, now feeling guilty for not knowing his name when the other knows the inside joke well.

“Welcome,” the other grins, ducking his head and heading back to his seat.

Ramen waits till most of the gifts have been given and the majority of the class is preoccupied with their shiny new possessions. He takes a deep breath, nodding to Samyang to give his gift to Patrick now, and scoots his chair closer to Kaizo, who has been watching him carefully all this time. Ramen reaches under his seat and takes out a sizeable box, wrapped in transparent plastic with glittery blue snowflakes all over it, and Kaizo fiddles around to find the edge of the tape. He unwraps it neatly as if preserving the paper for later, and Ramen feels a twinge of impatience till he gets to the inside.

Kaizo pulls out a box displaying a professional recording microphone, and turns it over in his hand, taking it in.

“ _ Wow _ ,” is all he can say, and Ramen worries for a moment -  _ ‘Wow’ good, ‘wow’ bad…? _ but Kaizo looks up at him. “How did you know?”

“You sang at your brother’s concert,” Ramen says quickly, then realizes how stalkerish he must sound. “I, uh, heard you mentioning it to the music teacher…”

Kaizo raises an eyebrow nonetheless.

“I was getting decorations for the gym,” Ramen explains. “You should have sung at the Gala. I would have actually come.”

Kaizo looks down. “I’m not great…”

“You could sing me to sleep,” Ramen says simply, and curses himself for how much he must be creeping the other out right now.

Only Kaizo doesn’t react harshly, for once. He pauses and stares at him, almost hesitantly, then glances away, hand reaching back to rub at his neck sheepishly.

“Next year?” Ramen asks hopefully.

“Mm...” Kaizo mumbles, then stops, and - to Ramen’s confusion - a sly smile creeps onto his face. “ _ Maybe so… _ ”


End file.
